Whether you decorate for every holiday or not, chances are there are still items that get stored in your home for yearly holiday use. Easter has baskets that get pulled out and you are no doubt the proud (or not-so-proud) owner of more than enough plastic eggs. Halloween means costumes even if you don’t put out a single piece of décor. Christmas means a plethora of festive pieces all over the house or, at the very least, ornaments for the tree. These items have a tendency to get shoved in a closet or in the basement until the next time the holiday comes around and you’re frantically searching for where they are buried. Make your life so much easier you next holiday by organizing decorations now.

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Step 1

Find all of your decorations. If you haven’t previously had any sort of organizational system for your holiday décor this could be a time investment up front. Take the time to do the mad dash now and pull out everything you use during the holidays.

Step 2

Determine where the decorations will be stored. This can be a closet, the attic, the garage… wherever works for your home and space. We keep all of our holiday decorations under the basement steps which allows us a generous amount of storage. If you don’t have that kind of space, you want to determine where you can reasonably store the items.

[bctt tweet=”D is for decorations! Organizing decorations now will help ease the stress of the holidays. #organizing #atozchallenge” username=”diyadulation”]

Step 3

Once you have determined where you’ll store the items, take a hard look at the space you have versus the decorations you own. If you plan to fit all of it in a closet, chances are that you need to purge some items. We use large storage containers but you may only be able to use small storage boxes.

 

Step 4

This can be a difficult step for many people, but it is important to keep only what will fit in your designated containers. Keep in mind that the containers do not need to be all the same size. If you really dig Halloween, don’t be afraid to make that container larger than the others to accommodate your favorite décor items. Cut items from the holidays that aren’t as big of a decorating deal for your family. To give you some examples, here is a breakdown of the major holidays and décor items:

New Years

• All you really need (a term I’m using loosely here) in this container are the funny hats and noise makers. If you do have this décor, this would be the first one to cut if you are low on space.

Valentine’s Day 

• The average family typically only has a wreath and possibly a garden flag for this holiday. If that is the case for you, consider combining in a container with other holidays that only consist of similar décor items.

Saint Patrick’s Day

• The same goes for this holiday as with Valentine’s Day. If you have any decorations at all, it may only consist of a wreath and some beads. This is another great holiday to combine.

Easter

• You may have a ton of Easter décor but that gives you the opportunity to really pare down what you need to store. Keep only enough baskets for your family. Ditch the grass and use sheets of tissue paper instead. Not only is it easy to reuse, it takes almost no space to store. Also, get rid of the excess plastic eggs. Keep only what you need for an egg hunt or to go in baskets. Also, once you have them organized you will know exactly what you have instead of running out to buy more.

Independence Day

• This is another holiday that you may not have much décor for. While, being a military family, I could never advocate getting rid of your flag you can absolutely place it with your décor from other holidays. You could also fly it year-round. If you have items that you pull out for a 4^th of July barbeque each year, store those with your party supplies which I’ll show you how to organize later in the series.

Halloween

• Regardless of how much actual décor you have for Halloween, I definitely recommend having a container to store costumes in addition to a container for décor. If you would like, the costumes can be stored with kids’ toys for play throughout the year. Just be sure you have a clear storage solution for them before deciding to keep them.

Thanksgiving

• Your Thanksgiving décor may consist of a lot of table décor if you host dinner each holiday. If it does, try using your regular dishes and a plain, solid colored tablecloth that can be used for many different occasions. Ditch the centerpieces you’re storing and opt for a couple of vases filled with pinecones from outside during your holiday dinner each year. If you do these things, it will eliminate the need for a Thanksgiving storage container altogether.

Christmas

• We have a ton of decorations for Christmas (which I am currently in the process of purging) but we also have the space for 3 giant plastic tote boxes to store them all. If you don’t have that kind of space it is time to cut down your decorations. Essentially, you can get by with only ornaments, stockings, and a wreath. These won’t take up a lot of space and will likely be able to fit in one box.

Step 5

Once you’ve decided what to keep and where to store it, place the items you are keeping into your containers and label them. Now stack into their designated area until you need them.

 

Taking the time to organize your decorations will help ease the stress of the holidays for you when they come around. It is also important to remember your system and your available space when receiving gifts that are holiday décor items. Know that it is perfectly acceptable to put the word out to friends and family that you would appreciate them refraining from giving you holiday décor until you have a larger space in which to store it. They have all been there before and they will understand. Now keep the organizational momentum going with A to Z organization.

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Organizing your clothes can be daunting. Clothes hold an emotional attachment for you on many fronts. If you bought an adorable top but never wore it, you see the money you spent as wasted if you get rid of it. You found the perfect pair of jeans that have since been worn so much that they are falling apart. Throwing them out is hard because when you look at them you are flooded with how amazing they looked after you slid them on. Then there is that gorgeous dress that you love so much you hold onto it even though the last time it actually fit was 2 kids ago. Of course, that is all just your clothes. Throw in all of the kids’ clothes, your husband’s ridiculously large collection of t-shirts, and the never-ending laundry monster and you are ready to throw your hands up and cry. While I may not be able to make your kids instantly neater or make your husband stop hoarding shirts, I can give you some tips for organizing your clothes to give you some sanity.

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

 

 

[bctt tweet=”C is for Clothes! Here are some tips for organizing your clothes to give you some sanity. #organizing #atozchallenge” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Organizing Kids’ Clothes

The most important aspect for organizing kids’ clothes is creating zones (much like you do for your craft supplies). There are 5 important zones every child’s room should have.

1. Daily Outfits – Create an area to organize and pre-gather his or her outfits for the week. This will make your week run so much more smoothly, especially during the school year. You can find out how we do this and get some free printable labels for organizing outfits here.
2. Dirty Clothes – Make sure you have clear and defined area to corral dirty laundry. Small pop-up hampers are great for this. They are inexpensive and most come with a carrying handle.
3. Unmatched Socks – I don’t know what it is about kids but I swear there are sock monsters that only eat the socks of tiny humans. There are so many unmatched socks in kids’ laundry that we have a plastic box to hold them until the mates are found.
4. Outgrown Clothes – It’s no secret that kids grow like weeds. Make life easier by creating a zone to toss outgrown clothes into. This can be as simple as a box or basket in the bottom of their closet. When the basket fills, take the clothes to be donated.
5. Play Clothes – Instead of mixing school clothes and play clothes together, designate a drawer exclusively for play clothes. This way, when they want to play outside after school they will know exactly what clothes they are change into for play.

 

Organizing Your Clothes

As you become an adult (and subsequently stop growing), you begin to collect clothes that seem to only multiply. Before attempting to organize your clothes I highly recommend purging a large amount of them. That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to become a minimalist with your wardrobe but I guarantee there are plenty of items that you no longer wear that can be gotten rid of. Since beginning this process I have already filled 2 huge boxes with clothes and I’m still not done. Once you do temper your wardrobe, there are a few things that will help you keep it organized.

Drawer Organizers – Drawer organizers are phenomenal. No more searching for undergarments or forgetting where your warm, fuzzy socks are. I use these ones from IKEA and they are perfect. I got a set of 4 for $5 a couple of years ago and I couldn’t find the same 4 pack but there is a 6 pack available now. They are easy to set up (you just zip the bottom) and they can nest inside of each other if you so choose.

 

Roll Your Socks – Socks take up a lot less space if you roll them military style. This is especially great for tall socks. Here’s how to do this:

1. Place socks flat on top of each other.

 

2. Next, fold in half.

 

3. Roll the socks up starting at the folded end.

 

4. Secure roll together by folding the end over the roll.

Donate Zone – Like you did with the kids’ clothes, create an area for clothes to get rid of for you, too. As you come across pieces that no longer fit, suit your current style, or are good condition toss them in. Again, as the basket fills, simply empty it and donate the clothes.

 

Organizing Your Laundry

Organizing your laundry is an area I think too often gets overlooked. I’m not talking just about organizing your laundry room, either. Here are 3 tips to help you completely organize your laundry system:

1. Hampers – Make sure there is some sort of hamper for every situation. You likely already have hampers in your bedrooms but that isn’t enough. Successful organization is absolutely dependent on ease of use. For that reason, I recommend also having a hamper in the linen closet for towels or clothes after showers. You also should have a small hamper under the sink in the kitchen for towels and dish cloths. Having these at your fingertips ensures their use.
2. Divided System – Create a divided system for your laundry to separate whites, darks, and delicates. Whites and delicates may take longer to accumulate and entire load for wash, so having a separate system to store them in will help you tame the laundry monster.
3. Laundry Schedule – Create a laundry schedule and stick to it. This will help you always have clean clothes. Plus, once you get in the groove of your schedule, you won’t have to spend all of your time doing laundry. If you do better with lists like me, here is a free laundry schedule for you to print and fill out.

Whew! This is a lot of work initially but once you establish these systems if will get easier. In case all of these ideas weren’t enough, I have one last tip to help you out with your husband’s t-shirts:

If many of his shirts hold sentimental value for him, but you seriously don’t have the space for his ever-expanding hoard, ask him to pick out the most important ones for you. Cut out the images and sew them into an awesome new quilt for him. Now he can cover up with all of those memories anytime he wants!

If you want even more organizing awesomeness, check out the other posts in the A to Z series!

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You probably fall into one of 2 categories with book organization. One category is that owning physical books is superfluous with access to libraries and digital readers. The second category is that nothing beats the experience of holding (and owning) a physical book. The smell of the pages and the weight of it in your hands makes each and every book you own a treasured item. I fall into the second group which makes organizing and decluttering my books a painful process. No matter which group you fall into, here are some ideas for organizing your books.

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

 

 

[bctt tweet=”B is for books! Organize your books whether you’re an extremist or a book hoarder. #AtoZchallenge #organizing”]

 

1. Extreme Group

If you’re ready to get hardcore minimalist on your books then you belong in the extreme group. To maximize your free space in your home, purge all of your books. This doesn’t mean you give up the pastime of reading. Instead, you use the library for access to all of your reading materials. Borrowing from the library will save you untold amounts of space in your home but it will also save you money (especially if you have a book-buying problem like me). Furthermore, a lot of libraries now let you check out an insane number of books at once (10-20). You could save time and essentially make it a once a month trip to get your books.

 

2. Middle Ground Group

Electronic readers are great for those of you who fall in the middle ground group. Even if you want to own your books, an e-reader can help you keep from accumulating an excess of books (some of which you may end up not even caring for). I own a Kindle and absolutely love it. There are so many books that can be borrowed for free if you own a Kindle and it is a fantastic way to read new releases before committing to a purchase.

Even if you don’t own a Kindle, you can download the free Kindle reader app on your smartphone or tablet. This will allow you to read a ton of fantastic books. While you don’t get access to the lender’s library (it is exclusive to Kindle owners), you can still get free books. A lot of books will periodically be available for free. Once you have ‘purchased’ free books and they are added to your Amazon library, they will always be yours for free regardless of price increases.

 

3. Book Hoarders Group

This is the group for all of you who are disproportionately attached to your books like I am. I absolutely love my books and parting with them is incredibly difficult for me. Over the years, I have developed some tricks for maximizing book storage. If you have purged the books you can but still have more books than bookshelves, here is how to style your shelves for maximum book holding while still being aesthetically pleasing:

1. Start by organizing your books into stacks according to size. This will make step 2 easier.
2. Vary how the books are stacked. As you can see in the picture above, setting some books upright and laying some of them flat provides visual interest while allowing you to fill the entire shelf with books.
3. Once you have filled your shelves, you can come in with decorative items that you want to display.

Note:

• These shelves are after I purged 5 boxes of books!

 

4. Exceptions

There are some exceptions that as a book lover I have to make. Don’t get rid of collector’s books or items of highly sentimental value. I refuse to get rid of my grandfather’s old textbooks from when he went to Purdue. They aren’t on topics I am particularly interested in but I was very close with him and he died when I was 12. These books hold a value for me that couldn’t be replaced. Another book that will always have a place in my home is this collection from Milton.

This book is an absolute work of art. They don’t make covers like this anymore.

 

The illustrations are simply stunning.

 

The book is nearly 150 years old! You don’t throw out history like that. In fact, I don’t even recommend shelving it. Instead, display these exceptions prominently in your home.

5. Book Tour

You can literally find books in every room of my home. I’ll save you some of them (like the cookbooks in the kitchen and the books in the bathroom). You’re welcome. Here are the other areas, though.

 

This is one of the shelves in the living room. This is where the bulk of the books are stored.

 

This is the second book shelf in the living room. (And you can see the beautiful Milton right on top!)

 

Utilize otherwise unused areas like this for book storage as well. The kids’ books are the end of the hallway in a corner that was just sitting empty beforehand. If you notice, these are only the reading books. The coloring books and activity books are stored with the crayons and art supplies for the kids.

 

Yes, I even have puzzles that come in books. I know, I have a problem but hello! They are beautiful and Alice in Wonderland. They go perfect next to my illustrated Harry Potter book and my HP adult coloring book.

 

These are all of my work books. These are all stored in my office.

 

These are all of my binders (both those in use and empty ones for future products).

 

These are all of the notebooks and reference books that I use frequently. That is why they are in such close proximity to my desk.

 

The magazines are stored on the bottom shelf and get recycled as I’m done with them. (These are great for brainstorming topic ideas, by the way.)

 

Much like the kids’ coloring books, sketchbooks are kept in their own drawer along with a box of drawing supplies (like pencils, charcoal, and blenders).

Organizing your books doesn’t have to be hard. These tips will help you whether you’re ready to leap and purge everything or you’re still wanting to hold on to the bulk of books. This part of organizing can take a substantial amount of time, especially if you a freakish book-hoarding nerd like I am. It is worth the time to free up the space and achieve easier access to the books you want to read, use, and reference. If you haven’t checked it out yet, don’t miss how to organize your arts and craft supplies then come back on Monday to find out how to organize your clothes!

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